Claude Cemetery

Duane's take

Here's my telling of what the official marker has to say about Claude Cemetery, out in Armstrong County. Now, every good story starts somewhere, and this one starts with a man named Dan Cavanagh. He settled in this part of Texas in 1885, and by 1888 he'd bought the land.

Then, in 1890, something happened that quietly changed what this ground would mean forever. A railroad worker named Neal DeBerry needed a grave site, and Cavanagh gave him one. Just like that.

That same year, a settler named C.C. Bates was buried here too. And when the Fort Worth and Denver Railroad was pushing through, workers who'd been buried along the right-of-way were later moved here to rest among their own.

The land was gathering its dead, and its purpose was becoming clear. James and Harriet Grimes made it official in 1905, deeding the cemetery land to the public. Seven years later, in 1912, a cemetery association was organized, because a place like this deserves tending.

And then, in 1936, a man named Jim Hill made sure it would be tended properly, for good, with a ten-thousand-dollar gift designated for perpetual care. Ten thousand dollars. That's not a gesture.

That's a promise. The marker tells us that veterans are buried here too, men and women who served in the Civil War, the Spanish American War, both World Wars, Korea, and Vietnam. Six conflicts.

Generations of Texans who went when called and came back to this ground. Claude Cemetery has been holdin' all of it since 1890, and it isn't done yet.

What the marker says

(Established 1890) Dan Cavanagh settled here in 1885 and bought this land in 1888. In 1890 he gave a grave site for railroad worker Neal DeBerry. Settler C.C. Bates was buried in 1890, and early burials from the Fort Worth & Denver Railroad right-of-way were later moved here. James and Harriet Grimes deeded the cemetery land to the public in 1905. A cemetery association was organized in 1912, and perpetual care began in 1936 with a $10,000 gift from Jim Hill. Also interred here are veterans of the Civil War, the Spanish American War, World Wars I and II, Korea, and Vietnam. (1973, 1990)